Sylvania



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

L. (moss & W; s. SEYMOUR. WOVEN WIRE MATTRES$ AND PROOESSOF MAKING SAME.

No. 534,817. PatentedFeb.26,18 95 772 6 M//{gmm MILTON L. CROSS AND WILLIAM S. SEYMOUR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENN- SYLVANIA', SAID SEYMOUR ASSIGNOR TO SAID GROSS.

WOVEN-WIRE MATTRESS AND PROCESS 0 F MAKING SAME.

SPEdIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 534,817, dated February 26, 1895.

Application filed June 26,1894. SerialNo. 515,718. (No model.) 7

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that we, MILTON L. CROSS and WILLIAM S. SEYMOUR, citizens of the United States, and residents of the city of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a' certain new and useful Improved Woven-Wire Mattress and Process of Making the Same, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

Our invention relates to certain improvements in that class of mattresses formed from a wire fabric composed of a series of interwoven lengths of coiled spring wire, and has for its object to provide for the securing of the fabric in position by attaching it to the outer metallic frame, usually employed, in such manner that the ends of the wire will not project nor be liable to engage with the bedding, or other material, when in use.

In the manufacture of mattresses from a woven wire fabric it is usual to employ a heavy wire, or other metallic frame, which entirely surrounds and is attached to the woven wire fabric in such manner as to keep the latter taut, the heavier wire at the side of the fabric and parallel to the length of the various strands of which it is composed being simply inserted through the edge coils while at the ends, which run at a right angle to the length of thecoil, it-becomes necessary to finish the ends or unite the various projecting strands in such manner as to prevent them from coming into contact with the bedding.

In carrying out our invention we propose to intimately mass and intermingle a considerable portion of the strands of which the fabric is formed so that there will be at each end of the fabric a semi-rigid bar, formed integral with the strands, and of sufficient strength to enable us to, secure it to the end wires of the mattress frame. Ordinarily these ends are bent over the end wire and the ends brought back underneath the fabric, the latfor being then united or secured to the end Wire by a lacing or binding wire formed preferably of a coil of wire which may be simply turned to engage with the end wire and the meshes of the netting. This method of manufacture, however, is an expensive one, and does not effectually keep the ends of the wire from contact with the bedding. To overcome this objection, and to manufacture the mattresses in an economical and at the same time expeditious manner, we first trim or cut a fabric into suitable size and shape, and then, by pushing the various strands .or coils of which the fabric is composed each into intimate contact, longitudinally considered, with the adjoining strand or coil, the width of the fabric is reduced to a considerable extent, while at the same time it remains perfectly flat. The ends of the fabric are then subjeoted to pressure longitudinally in such manner that the last two or three turns of each coil of wire is compressed until at each end of the fabric is formed a tight mass, or practically a semi-rigid bar, in which the ends of each strand or coil are intermingled and interlaced with the others. The fabric is then stretched out to its fullest extent laterally and after the interlaced and intertangled ends have been further compressed, matted and united, so as to prevent any of the ends projecting, the bar so formed is united by an interlacing coil to the end bar of the frame.

In the accompanying drawings:--Figure 1 is a plan view of a woven wire fabric, such as is ordinarily employed in the manufacture of wire mattresses illustrating on an exaggerated scale the position of the various strands or coils when the width of the fabricis reduced by forcing the strands or coils into intimate contact. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the condition of the ends in the second step in the process, the ends of the wire having been subjected to pressure longitudinally and compressed to the extent of two or three of the end turns of each coil or strand. Fig. 3 shows on a somewhatsmaller scale, the fabric .when opened out to its finished width and the position of the ends of the wire after the fabric has been opened out. Fig. 4. is a side elevation with the wire arranged as shown in Fig. 3. Figs. 5 and 6 represent respectively a plan and side elevation showing a further step in the reduction of the wire fabric and also illustrate the manner of uniting the ends of the fabric to the end bar of the frame.

The fabric, A, is composed of a series of ICO parallel strands of coiled spring Wire, a, each strand or coil being interwoven with the next succeeding strand or coil so as to form a continuous fabric of any required length and width. From a piece of fabric of this kind is cut a section of the required size, the length of the fabric, however, being a trifle greater than the length of the frame to which it is to be secured, so as to permit of the reduction of the length of the fabric by the processes hereinafter described.

The first step in the process consists in reducing the width of the fabric by bringing the longitudinally arranged coils into intimate contact with each other, this being very readily accomplished by laying the fabric on a flat table and simply forcing together its opposite sides and in this way the fabric, which when stretched in the mattress frame will be four or more feet in width, can be laterally compressed to a width of a foot or less, the wires being in intimate contact with each other and presenting the appearance shown in Fig. 1. When the fabric is thus laterally compressed its ends are subjected to pressure longitudinally by any suitable instrument in such manner that the last two or three turns of each coil are forced down upon each other and intimately massed and intermingled in the manner shown in Fig. 2, the remainder of the fabric being so held as to remain in its original condition without being compressed or in any manner disturbed by clamping or otherwise holding the fabric to the table at the point where the compressing action terminates.

After the fabric has been compressed, as shown in Fig. 2, it is opened out, by pulling from the opposite sides, to the width in which it is to remain in a finished mattress, as shown in Fig. 3, and the ends of the wire become somewhat separated and loosened under this action so that they then assume the positions shown in Figs. 3 and 4. When the fabric is in this position the end being treated is subjected to pressure or hammered down in such manner that its thickness will be reduced and the ends of the wire are more completely mingled and twisted so as to form what may practically be considered a semi-rigid bar, while any loose ends which may project beyond the end of the fabric are also forced down endwise into the mass until the fabric presents the appearance illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6.

In Figs. 5 and 6 B represents a heavy wire frame to which the fabric is secured at the ends by uniting the end wire to the formed bar at the end of the fabric by a coil, 0, of wire, which is made to connect the two by simply inserting one end of the wire in the helical needle and then, by turning the wire proper, forcing the needle to travel round and round over the end wire and the formed bar of the fabric, so that in the finished product this formed bar will be Within the end interlacing coil, O, and the escape of any loose ends of wire will be prevented.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. A section or length of woven wire fabric formed of a series of coiled and interwoven wire strands extending longitudinally of the fabric and parallel to each other, a portion of each endof the wire strand forming each of the respective coils being bent into a series of intimately related loops or irregular convolutions arranged generally in a line at a right angle to the length of the coil, the convolntions of each strand being intermeshed with the similarly disposed convolutions of the adjacent strands, forming a semirigid bar at each end of the fabric said bars being disposed on a line at right angles to the length of the coils, substantially as specified.

2. In combination with a rectangular mattress frame, a fabric formed of a series of interwoven coils extending parallel to the sides of the mattress frame, a portion of each end of the wire strand forming each of the interwoven coils being longitudinally compressed into a series of irregular convolutions disposed at a right angle to the length of the coil the convolutions of each strand being indiscriminately meshed andintermingled with the similar convolutions of the adjacent strands, the whole forming at each end of the fabric a semi-rigid bar disposed at a right angle to the length of the coils and a coiled interlacing wire surrounding and embracing said semirigid bars and said mattress frame, substantially as specified.

3. The herein described process of manufacturing wire mattresses which consists in first, reducing the width of the fabric by com pressing the strands together, second, com pressing the ends of the same to intimately unite the ends of the various strands or coils of which the fabric is formed; third, opening out the fabric to or to about its finished width; fourth, compressing and intermingling the ends of the wire so as to form a bar; and fifth, uniting said bar to the end bar of a mattress frame, substantially as specified.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands this 23d day of June, A. D. 1894.

MILTON L. CROSS. WVILLIAM S. SEYMOUR. Witnesses:

J NO. A. MCCARTHY, J NO. E. PARKER. 

